Woman's desperate plea to get her twin sister back from University of Leeds cemetery

93,000 people are buried at St George's Field at the University of Leeds (Image: Flickr: Mishimoto)

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A 73-year-old woman is locked in a dispute with the University of Leeds over a desperate plea to retrieve her sister's remains from a former cemetery which she says is being disrespected by students.

Christine Bairstow's twin sister Pauline died when she was just six months old and was buried at Woodhouse Cemetery, which is at the the heart of the university's campus on the northern edge of the city centre.

More than 93,000 people are buried at the famous cemetery, which came under control of the university in 1956 and has since been renamed St George's Field.

A spokesperson for the university says that St George's Field remains a protected part of our campus and strict licenses prevent people from exhuming remains unless they can absolutely guarantee that no other graves will be disturbed.

Christine Bairstow kneels next to the site where her twin sister Pauline is buried (Image: Facebook: Friends of Woodhouse Cemetery)

"I've always been to the cemetery ever since I could walk," Mrs Bairstow told LeedsLive.

"My sister had a cross where she was buried and I remember my dad coming back to my house one day and he was really upset. He said Pauline's cross had been stolen and lots of other gravestones had been stolen too."

What had in fact happened was the start of the university's transformation of the cemetery roughly 50 years ago, which included the removal of some headstones.

'I was in despair. It was devastating.'

"It was like a building site," said Mrs Bairstow. "I can still see that digger now. It was an old green digger.

"I just looked round and I was in despair. It was devastating. We had been told nothing about it."

Mrs Bairstow has made regular visits to her sister's grave throughout her entire life, but she says that the behaviour of some students has been the final straw in deciding to move her sister's grave.

"A lot of bad things are happening in the cemetery," she said. "Students playing football, having parties and taking drugs.

"I've been there putting flowers on my sister's grave when students have been having barbecues.

"You wouldn't know it's a cemetery. I think that's why people are misbehaving because there's nothing to say it's a cemetery."

What the University of Leeds has had to say

A University of Leeds spokesperson said: "We sympathise with Mrs Bairstow and have encouraged her application for a licence to exhume her sister’s remains, but the approval process asks us to confirm that they can be removed without disturbing other bodies and requires us to identify each set of remains.

"We can’t confirm this, because of the multiple burials of babies and infants, and despite our best efforts to establish the exact location of the remains, we cannot be certain because the historical records are not accurate.

"St George’s Field is a protected part of our campus – a peaceful public open space which we encourage visitors, students and staff to use for reflection, in a respectful manner.

"We have committed to improving the signage around the field and we brief students about respecting the area, making them aware of its history."

Mrs Bairstow now acts as a representative for Friends of Woodhouse Cemetery, a group of more than 250 people who are campaigning for St George's Field to be officially recognised as as cemetery once more.

She also wants to exhume her sister, so that she can be laid to rest in Otley.

Mrs Bairstow says she has exact measurements of where her sister is buried, but stringent Ministry of Justice guidelines have prevented her from being able to follow through on her request, as removing her sister's remains may also disturb other graves.

She said: "The day when I walked in [and saw the digger] and I saw that cemetery like it was, I swore to every last person in that cemetery that I would keep them safe. Not just my sister, but all 93,000 people.

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